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Jwénxa:Verb Conjugation
This page contains the conjugation paradigms for Jwénxa verbs. Tenses / Aspects Main tenses/aspects * Past perfective — simple past tense; English "I ate" * Pluperfect — perfect past tense; English "I had eaten" * Atelic past — imperfect/past continuous/past defective; does not correspond to any one English tense/aspect but rather represents one of: "I used to eat," "I was eating" or "I tried to eat (but failed)" depending on context * Present simple — as in English "I eat," but actually more likely to correspond to "I am eating" because English uses the progressive/continuous present where most languages use the simple present * Present perfect — as in English "I have eaten" * Present continuous — continuous as opposed to progressive; corresponds to English "I am eating," but more accurately something like "I am in the state of having eaten" * (Neutral) future — simple future tense; English "I will eat" - no extra connotation * Intentional future — expresses desire; similar to English "I want to eat" * Obligatory future — expresses necessity or obligation; similar to English "I must eat" * Future perfect — as in English "I will have" Other tenses/aspects The other tenses and aspects are constructed periphrastically rather than simply by inflection. * Progressive — expresses the dynamic quality of action (rather than the state as continuous); constructed VERB + nxwai (BE-present continuous) [often shortened to wwai in causal speech]; e.g., cáphīitw nxwai - s/he was falling * Inchoative — signifies the beginning of an action; like English "I started eating," "I began to eat," etc.; constructed VERB-INFINITIVE + túlā (BECOME); unlike in the progressive construction, the verb túlā is inflected, rather than the main verb, which remains in the infinitive. e.g., cáphū túlasritw - s/he began falling * Imperative — makes a command; English "Eat!"; construction VERB-INFINITIVE + welin (TO DO future) * Hortative — makes a suggestion, encourages; English "Let's eat!"; construction VERB-INFINITIVE + phecen (shortened form of TO PERMIT future) Auxiliary Verbs Where a verb is used as an auxiliary verb, it tends to lose its stress and remain in the infinitive (although túlā is a notable exception to this rule). For all auxiliaries, except for nxwai, the auxiliary is inflected with the subject/object-agreement; while, with nxwai, the main verb is inflected for these as well as the tense/aspect. Regular Vowel stem The most common type of verbs are the two vowel-stem types: ū''/ǖ''-verbs and ā''-verbs. Consonant stem In addition to the vowel-stem verbs, there are also a number of consonant-stem verbs. There are two types of these: '''d'ental and 'r'etroflex. :'D'ental may end in n'', ''l, th or t''. :'R'etroflex may end in ''n, lr, sr or t''. It is not always easy to tell the difference between the two types as they are very similar and stems ending in ''t or n'' may belong to either class. Irregular — To be Note: The inchoative form of ''nxwā is túlā (to become) and its present progressive form is simply nxwai (the present continuous). — To become Note: The verb túlā has no inchoative form.